She told me that I needed to improve my creative side. I’d been working for this engineering company for the last eight years. And we haven’t been doing so well. Losing a little bit of market share every year. So they brought in a new manager of the R and D department. Said we had to think outside the box so we could come up with some new products. Said all of our current product line was junk.
 
So one by one, she called us into her office and reviewed our personal files as well as our work records. Kind of like an annual review, but without the raise. Which meant it pretty much sucked. My biggest thing was I just do what I’m told. I’m a great engineer, she told me, just not creative enough. She told to try some new hobbies. After going over several creative hobbies, we both agreed, (or she said that we agreed) I should take up music.
 
As in I needed to learn how to play an instrument. Lucky me. She decided to let me choose which kind of instrument to play. Thanks, boss. So the first thing I did was hit up Amazon. But they are way expensive, and what if I buy one and it sucks? Or I suck? So I did some Googling around, and found out there’s a small music shop downtown that rents instruments.
 

 

I didn’t even know you could do that. Why would anybody rent an instrument? I guess idiots like me would. So I cruised on downtown the first Saturday I had a chance. Walked in and explained my predicament. The old lady who worked there (don’t know if she’s the owner or not) said that it would be better if I let the instrument pick me.
 
I agreed, but didn’t really know what she was talking about. She said just walk around the shop, and follow my intuition. I didn’t explain that because I’m an engineer, I don’t really have any intuition. I just played along.
 
The first thing I picked up was a trumpet. And it didn’t feel right. Then I picked up this harmonica, and I immediately had a mental shot of some guy in prison playing all night long while all of the other inmates kept telling him to shut the fuck up. So I put it down.
 
Next I picked up a violin. And it felt really, really good. I even put in on my shoulder. Perfect fit. Like I was holding my own kid.
 
“Have you played before?” She asked, having watched me the whole time. I hadn’t played. I hadn’t even ever picked on up before. But this one felt so good. So natural.
 
“Try something,” she said. I picked up the bow, and played a few notes. They were kind of off, but after a few tries I could make some simple melodies.
 
“That’s the one for you,” she said. “But be careful, that one is very powerful,” she warned. I thought she was joking. She wasn’t.
 
I went home, and played and played. After a couple weeks, I was actually playing some decent music. I didn’t know how to read music, but I would look stuff on YouTube, and listen to the song a few times, and then play it back without really needing to think. Like my brain was some kind of tape recorder.
 

 
What was even more amazing, is I started coming up with all of these ideas at work. My boss would have us do these impromptu brainstorming sessions. She’d send everybody an email and have a quick meeting in her office to think up new product ideas. Everybody was amazed at my ideas, including me.
 
Then I got the itch to play my new violin, (not really mine since I was still renting it) in front of others. Now, I was never really an outgoing guy. I was always terrified of speaking in public, just like pretty much everybody else. But for some reason, playing this violin in front of others just seemed so easy. It even felt like it was something I’d done before.
 
That’s when the freaky shit started happening. The first time, I thought it was a fluke. Some strange coincidence that almost made me want to forget the whole thing. Here’s what happened.
 

 
I was playing at the park, and a group of people eventually stood around. I wasn’t collecting money or anything, so they were just listening. But then this lady got this weird look on her face, like she’d fallen into some kind of trance or something. And once I noticed that about her, I couldn’t take my eyes off her.
 
But I kept playing. Only when I felt my attention locked on her zoned out face, I felt a sudden shift in the energy of the sounds coming from the violin. They were a lot less playful. I had started playing something I’d watched on YouTube earlier, (don’t ask, I never remember the names) but I started playing something I didn’t recognize.
 
It still sounded pretty good, but it was a little less cheerful. Slightly angry, maybe even a little sinister. Like the kind of music they make for horror movies. Still very natural, in fact it felt better than when I usually played. Much more intense. Lot more emotions. Pretty soon I had this powerful tunnel vision on the tranced-out lady. It was like it was only me and her in the whole park.
 

 
It felt as though there was this massive connection between us. Something I was really enjoying. Something I wanted to continue forever, but also felt, on some level, it wasn’t such a good idea. Like when you ditch your diet and suddenly just start eating and you can’t stop. You know it’s not good for you, but it feels so good that you keep going.
 
Then the lady just dropped. Right there where she stood. And my playing went back to normal. My vision expanded so I could see all the other people. They acted like nothing had happened. Only that lady, who was standing in the back, was on the ground.
 
Finally somebody noticed and called 911. The paramedics arrived and she was dead. They asked what had happened, and nobody looked at me. They just said she was standing there listening, and suddenly dropped.
 
At first, I felt guilty. Like I had killed her. Then I tried to convince myself that it hadn’t even happened. I even went to the same park, to play the same song I’d started out with to prove it was a fluke.
 

 
But it wasn’t. Somebody else died. I started playing, and then one of the people watching suddenly went into this trance. And again, my attention suddenly became glued to them. And my playing changed. Like somebody else was controlling me. Until the level of energy reached a natural peak, and they just blinked out. Dropped where they stood.
 
Now, I thought maybe I should call the cops. Or return the violin. But here’s the thing. Ever since I’ve been playing that, I’ve been doing really good at work. And really good socially, too. Normally I’m not the player type of guy who goes out and picks up girls like nobody’s business.
 
But recently? I’ve been swinging a pretty hot bat, if you catch my drift. And all I really need to do is play once a week. Somewhere in public. A crowd gathers, somebody starts to trance out (I never know who it is before I start playing) and then it happens. Something overtakes me, and they drop dead.
 

 
I figure there’s no way the cops can prove anything. And I keep getting promoted at work, and getting laid lock a rock star. The only problem is that I have to drive a couple hours every Saturday to play.
 
I’d hate to accidentally kill somebody I know. That would be a shame.
 
 
 
 
 

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